Judiciary Committee
The past couple weeks have been stacked with committees to discuss with you! To start, we’ll have to back up a couple weeks to Thursday, the 19th, when the Committee on Judiciary met on a number of bills.
AB 59 is a piece of legislation I wrote that would add arson victims as a party to potentially be compensated by the Crime Victim Compensation Program. As a resource of compensation to pay for hardships suffered from criminal acts, such as medical treatment, lost wages, and funeral expenses, the State of Wisconsin provides a Crime Victim Compensation Program for victims of certain crimes. If eligible and approved, the Department of Justice may award up to $40,000 to a victim.
The idea behind this legislation came forward when a constituent of mine’s barn was set on fire by a local arsonist. Because arson victims weren’t included in the Crime Victim Compensation Program, he unfortunately had to cover a lot of the loss himself. This bill will create financial assistance to help future applicable victims and their families get their lives back on track and rebuild their homes and small businesses.
AB 75 makes it a Class I felony to commit an act of animal abuse that a person knows, or should reasonably know, may result in grievous bodily harm or death.
AB 87 modifies the penalties of an individual who is convicted of vehicular homicide while being under the influence and provides minors restitution for reasonable and necessary costs of maintenance until they turn 18 or until they turn 19, if they are still enrolled in high school.
AB 411 allows a person who is at least 70 years of age to be excused from jury
service.
AB 460 is a piece of legislation I wrote that requires the Department of Administration (DOA) to maintain an index of discovery system that allows district attorneys and public defenders to manage and organize all discovery-related information for court cases.
According to the State Public Defender’s office, conflict with video evidence is the second-biggest reason why a court case is delayed. An index of discovery would give both sides of a case a more organized system to file and present evidence, which will ensure a fairer trial and higher efficiency in cases. Lastly, the Department of Justice already utilizes this software, so it should allow for limited administrative costs for DOA when implementing this database.
AJR 60 prohibits the state from closing down or forbidding gatherings in places of worship in response to a state of emergency at the national, state, or local level.
Committee on Transportation
Last Tuesday, I testified in the Committee on Transportation on AB 385, a piece of legislation I wrote for the purposes of designation on a driver license that broadens the definition of “veteran” to include any person who was admitted to the United States under the Hmong Veterans’ Naturalization Act.
Under current law, the veterans designation is only offered to specific individuals who have served in the United States Armed Forces and is presented on their Wisconsin drivers license with a red veterans identifier. This legislation expands that designation to be available to the Hmong-Lao Wisconsinites who fought alongside the United States military in Vietnam to stop the spread of communism.
I believe that the individuals who fought for freedom and our country, lost their homeland, and adopted a new one are American veterans and deserve the recognition this bill offers them.
Committee on Education
Last Thursday, I testified on two of my bills in the Education Committee.
The first, AB 234, creates a school psychologist loan forgiveness program that models the program made for teachers.
With mental illnesses running rampant, our children are in dire need of assistance. The National Association of School Psychologists recommends state standards of 500 students per school psychologist. Currently, Wisconsin has a ratio of 815:1. So the question became: how can we encourage more individuals to pursue a career as school psychologists? This legislation, administered by the Higher Educational Aids Board (HEAB), may award those eligible a loan of up to $10,000 annually for up to three years. HEAB must also forgive 25% of the loan for each school year that the recipient is employed as a school psychologist in a high-need area.
AB 434 requires the Department of Health Services (DHS) to establish an indoor air quality inspection program for public school buildings utilized by pupils.
This legislation came about after a constituent of mine approached me with the idea of making sure we have good air quality in our public schools. This bill aims to create accountability and a tracking system to ensure our kids are getting the air they need to create a healthy learning environment and, therefore, to learn to the best of their ability in school.
Committee on Criminal Justice
Yesterday, the Committee on Criminal Justice met and held a public hearing on five pieces of legislation.
AB 503 eliminates the element in current law that states that public exposure of genitals or pubic areas needs to be indecent and instead requires that the exposure be intentional to be a Class A misdemeanor.
AB 504 prohibits a person from causing a person who is under the age of 18 to attend an event at which a group of adult participants intentionally expose their genitals, buttocks, or other intimate parts in a public area.
AB 329 makes it a crime to intentionally possess a “child sex doll,” which is defined under the bill to be an anatomically correct doll, mannequin, or robot with features that resemble a minor that is intended for use in sex acts, for sexual gratification, or for manipulating children into participating in sex acts, instructing children how to participate in sex acts, or normalizing sexual behavior with children.
AB 459 gives district attorney offices a helping hand by creating a taskforce within the Department of Justice (DOJ) whose specific duty is to assist district attorney’s offices at their request. DOJ attorneys would be under the supervision of the district attorney they were assigned to.
I wrote this legislation as an attempt to try to alleviate the case backlogs our district attorney and public defender offices have been dealing with for the past several years. This bill gives district attorney offices a helping hand by creating a task force within DOJ whose specific duty is to assist these offices at their request.
AB 412 alters the current language in state statute to protect jurors and their families while they are still convened and deliberating. Current statute only applies once the verdict or indictment is reached.
I wrote this legislation to ensure that everyone in Wisconsin has the opportunity for a fair trial by a jury, as guaranteed by the 6th Amendment of the United States Constitution as well as the Wisconsin Constitution.
In-District Events
Friday, November 3rd, there will be a Fall Fish Fry from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Mishicot VFW Park and Hall (317 West Main St, Mishicot).
Saturday, November 11th, will be the Holiday Craft Extravaganza at Camp Tapawingo (915 W Tapawingo Road, Mishicot) from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday, November 11th, will be Holiday Photos with the Alpacas at the LondonDairy Alpaca Ranch (6827 State Hwy 147, Two Rivers) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sunday, November 12th, will be Holiday Photos with the Alpacas at the LondonDairy Alpaca Ranch (6827 State Hwy 147, Two Rivers) from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
